Improved process for desulphurizing and disintegrating ores



UNITED STATES JAMES C. AYER, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVED PROCESS FOR DESULPHURIZING AND D|SlNTEGRATl N G ORES, dc.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46,620, dated March 7,1865; antedated annary 24, 1865.

To all whom it may concern Beit' known that L'JAMES C. Area, of Lowell,in the county of Middlesex-and State of Massachusetts, haveinvented anew and Improved Processfor Deshlphurizihg, Oxidizing, andDisintegrating Metalliferous Ores; and I do hereby declare that thefollowing is a full and exact description thereof in such detailtiferous; and the object of my invention is the speedy and efl'ec'tualhdesu'lphnrating, oxidat: irig, and disintegrati-ngof the rock or ore bya process which, while it' is speedy and efi'ectual,

shall at the sametime be cheap and simple.

A description of my processfas applied'to the ores of precious metalswill be a sufficient indication of its application to other ores.

I take masses of quartz-rock which contain precious metal in'thecondition such masses come from the mine and place them in a furnace,where they aresubjected to a high degree of -heat, but less thansufficient, to smelt the ore. W hen so heated the rock is subjected to asaline solution, or a solution of common salt. This may be done byappliances so arranged as to cause the rock or ore to be submerged in abath of such solution, or the solution may be applied in the form of astream or jets upon the ore while still in the furnace, or ,t.o massesof the ore after being takenfrom the furnace, butwhile in ahighlylieated state. This treatment disintegrates the ore and more orless'oxidizes the .bas er metals in.it. The ore is then reheated,duringwhich act .the heat so operates upon the ore thus impregnated with thesaline solution as to rapidly efi'eet its further oxidation, anddisintegration, and desulphurization. The mass of rock or ore thus asecond time heated, it not found to be sufficiently reduced to a statein which it may be readily ground or pulverized and completelyoxidized,is again subjected toa bath of the saline solution as before,and again heated- This operation may be repeated or continued a greateror less number of times, according as the refractory qualities of theore render it necessary for the. attainment .of a complete stateofoxidation and disintegration.

In case the rock is of a. friable nature, the bath may be applied intheform of astream or jets upon the heated ore while in the furnace. If,however, the oreis-of a refractory nature, thebathshould be applied bythe submersion of the-ore.

The aforego'ing treatment of the rock or ore completely efi'ects itsdisintegration, oxidizes the baser metals contained therein, expels thesulphur, arsenic, and other foreign matter, and so reduces the orethatit can be readily ground or pulverized, and leaves the precious metal init free for amalgamation.

, 'What I claim as my invention or discovery, and desire to secure byLetters Patent of the United States, is

1. The application of treating rock or ores while in the heated statewith a saline solution, substantially as described, for the purpose ofpartial disintegration, desulphnriza. tion, and oxidation of the same.

2. The application of retreating ores which have been heated,substantially as above described, and the same repeated for the couplete disintegration, desul phurization, and oxi dation of the same.

JAMES C. AYER. Witnesses A. H. TAYLOR, BENJ. WALKER.

